Trump to address religious conference after backing Ten Commandments law: Live

On Friday, Trump’s attorneys and his allies argued that Smith — who brought federal charges against the former president — was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, appeared somewhat skeptical of their long-shot arguments, which join a long list of motions to dismiss the case.

Alex Woodward has been following the case for The Independent.

Lauren Boebert danced in red stilettos down a gauntlet of Republicans wielding foam pool noodles in a faux “American Gladiator” event during one of the more surreal moments of a final campaign appearance Thursday – before voters in a district she’s just moved to decide whether they want her representing them in Congress.

Sheila Flynn reports from Centennial, Colorado.

The Independent’s Bel Trew is speaking to delegates at the Faith and Freedom conference in Washington, DC ahead of Donald Trump’s remarks at lunchtime today.

Frank Collins, 69, a pastor who drove eight hours from Detroit to attend the event, prayed for Donald Trump with his son, also called Frank, who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap.

“We need someone who will speak the truth boldly, like a lion, and really, really tell people what’s going on in this nation,” Pastor Collins said.

about the criticism of Mr Trump supporting the new Louisiana law requiring classrooms to post the Ten Commandments, he said: “We’ve all broken the Ten Commandments haven’t we?”

“We’re not looking for a perfect person, but we’re looking for a person who has a heart for the American people and a heart for God. And I think I honestly believe in my heart that he’s the one that has it. I don’t see it in Biden. I didn’t see it in Obama,” Collins said.

“I didn’t vote for either one of them. I voted for Donald Trump the first time. I was here for the first inauguration, and I’ll be here for the second inauguration. So this is the man of the day. This is the man of the hour. And we’re praying, we are praying”.

His son Frank, 19, who will be voting for the first time said that he believed young people “want to have someone we can trust in office, which is Trump.”

“Everyone makes mistakes. He’s done a lot of things in office that have helped this country. I solely believe he is the answer to our problems.”

The family rejected the trial against Trump – saying members of the Black community in the USA felt solidarity with the former president as they felt the judicial “dice are stacked against us”.

“It’s a kangaroo trial. No, offense to the people from Australia, but [the USA] is a banana republic. It is really unfair what they did to him and people see through it. And I think it’s going to show in the polls now. Donald Trump went through something that Black Americans go do a lot. We have the dice stacked against us,” he said.

“We go to court and things are against us. And so not only us but poor people. So when they look at what they did to him, we can relate. What was done here was not fair and legal also. The judiciary has been has been militarized against him.”

Voters will decide the fate of Boebert and other races across the state on Tuesday, June 25. One way or another, they make their judgment on the long, strange road the far-right Republican congresswoman has taken since her 2022 defeat, after which she became further embroiled in scandals and fled her district.

John Bowden and Sheila Flynn report from Colorado.

The Independent’s Bel Trew is speaking to delegates at the Faith and Freedom conference in Washington, DC ahead of Donald Trump’s remarks at lunchtime today.

In the audience, Renata DaSilva, 49 — a Brazilian-American and host of the “God and Country” podcast — was proudly wearing a cowboy hat emblazoned with a broach reading “Free Trump” in diamanté jewels.

She had flown in from South Carolina especially for the event and to hear Donald Trump speak after meeting him at an event in Detroit earlier this year.

“He’s always a beacon of light. Whenever he comes in he just lights up the room. Trump speaks to people directly. That’s the difference between him and a lot of politicians. He speaks in the way that we understand and we believe him.”

She said under his presidency the economy “was at the highest.”

“I never lived so well. I purchased my home during his presidency.

Right now, with soaring interest rates, when you go to the gas station, the American people see the difference between his presidency when he was governing to what we see now during the Biden presidency.”

She supported Louisiana’s decision earlier this week to become the first state to require the the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom – which has sparked concerns about the separation of church and state, and whether the action could be unconstitutional. Critics of Mr Trump, who enthusiastically showed his support for the move on social media, have pointed out he has been accused of breaking several commandments including adultery with Stormy Daniels and corruption over his felony conviction in New York.

His supporters brushed the criticism aside.

“I’m not voting for a pastor. I’m voting for someone that leads the country,” ” Ms Renata said.

“Like Jesus says, he who is not a sinner let him throw the first stone. So Donald Trump is not perfect. I’m not perfect. I don’t think you are perfect. The problem is we always want to visualize this perfect man. That perfect person does not exist.”

“And that’s why Trump speaks to us, because he’s not perfect.”

Giuliani’s bookkeeping was heavily criticized during a three-hour-long hearing in his high-profile Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Judge Sean Lane also heard heated arguments from Giuliani’s creditors, who want a trustee to seize control of his finances and force the disgraced mayor to file monthly operating reports on time.

“There are reasons to be concerned here,” the bankruptcy court judge declared, conceding that the former mayor’s records appear to be a “mess.”

“At a certain point, a failure to comply with [court] orders means my voice will take on a decided edge,” the judge warned. “If people don’t obey court orders, it’s a profound problem.”

But Trump has been starting fights and insulting other famous people for years — here’s some who’ve caught his attention and wrath.

Donald Trump has declared his “love” for the Ten Commandments and has called for them to be displayed in schools and other places in an all-caps, late-night post on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Louisiana is the only state in the country with such a requirement however it appears that it is one that the former president would like to expand.